The federal judiciary, notoriously hidebound when it comes to allowing any video of its proceedings, is jumping headfirst into the YouTube age.

A San Francisco federal judge on Wednesday broke new ground by deciding to use YouTube for the upcoming historic trial of a lawsuit challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker approved a limited form of broadcasting for the trial, concluding it is just the type of case that warrants breaking with traditions that generally have outlawed cameras in the nation’s federal courts.

Walker is permitting court-operated cameras in his courtroom for delayed release of the Proposition 8 trial on YouTube. He becomes the first federal trial judge in the West to make use of an experimental program put in place recently by the 9th Circuit Judicial Council, the policy arm of the federal courts in nine states, including California. The council in December decided to allow federal trial courts to broadcast nonjury civil trials, just in time for the Proposition 8 proceeding, which is scheduled to begin Monday and last two to three weeks.

The judge did not make everyone happy with his decision. He rejected the arguments of Proposition 8’s defenders, who opposed any broadcast outside the San Francisco federal building. And he also turned down a media coalition’s request to have television crews handle the task of broadcasting the trial themselves live.

It was not clear from Walker’s remarks how long the delay would be before the video is posted on the Internet, but court officials are hoping to be able to post material twice a day — once in a mid-day break and then at the end of the trial day.

The trial is the first of its kind involving the gay marriage issue. Same-sex couples, backed by a civil rights organization and the city of San Francisco, sued last spring to overturn Proposition 8, the voter-approved law restoring a ban on gay marriages in California.

The plaintiffs’ legal team backed televising the trial. More than 82,000 people signed a petition urging Walker to grant the request.

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